Slack vs IRC (or how I learned to stop worrying and love the slack)

Posted by Andrew Denner on May 16, 2017 · 1 min read


For many years the local Linux User’s group has had an IRC channel on Freenode (#cialug) and it has always had about the same small number of lurkers who occasionally go active to make a comment, i.e. “Good Morning LUG!”.
A new attendee of the Lug suggested slack as a possible avenue for communication. Reluctantly we stood up a channel and got to work inviting people to join. I also launched a Slack/IRC bridge to help keep the lug wide discussions from being a permanent netsplit.
So far I have the following observations about the current situation.

  1. Slack has a nice user interface, (yes I know that IRC is a communication standard, not a UI)
  2. Slack keeps a history of what has been said, unlike IRC where if you were not in the channel it is lost (both good and bad)
  3. with the IRC Slack bot, it is impossible to tell all who may be in the channel on the other side of the bridge
  4. Slack is an invite only system. (I need to get around to automating this process.) This kinda goes counter to the free and open environment that we try to foster.

Time will tell if this slack thing is a good idea. Stay tuned for updates.